Wilmington gets national mentions as Moore film debuts in NY, LA

Audience members wait outside the Murphy Theatre during the first night of filming Oct. 6 in Wilmington.

News Journal file photo

WILMINGTON — What had been announced as a TV special filmed over two nights at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington debuted as a film in theaters Tuesday night, with exclusive week-long showings in New York and Los Angeles.

The New York Times’ Wednesday review — which mentions Wilmington and includes a photo of Moore outside the Murphy marquee — stated that if “Michael Moore in TrumpLand” “had you expecting a rollicking, full-force attack on Donald J. Trump, prepare to be disappointed … The film is not an attack on Mr. Trump, but instead a paean to his opponent in the presidential contest, Hillary Clinton.”

The review goes on to say, “The stand-up comedy routine — tame and sometimes lame stuff; Mr. Moore is no George Carlin — gives way to a stretch that sounds like a commencement address before Mr. Moore gets to his real purpose, which is to support Mrs. Clinton.” The paper calls the film “an earnest but not very entertaining pro-Clinton campaign film, occasionally funny, momentarily heartfelt … Against the rest of his work, it’s fairly tepid stuff.”

RollingStone.com quotes Moore as saying, “‘So why am I coming to Trump Country in Clinton County? … Because I think I know why a lot of people in Ohio and Michigan, some of them my neighbors, are voting for Donald Trump — good Midwestern people whose lives have been upended by ‘the system that’s been rigged against them’.”

Variety.com mentions Wilmington as “a region so conservative that the theater’s benefactor is Glenn Beck” and states that “… the acclaimed documentarian’s big ‘October surprise’ has precious little to do with Donald. Instead, the film offers a fairly convincing case for why voters should make Hillary Clinton the first female POTUS.”

Other mentions of Wilmington are included in stories on CNN.com, Foxnews.com and TheDailyBeast.com.

No other showings of the film had been announced as of Wednesday morning, although some sites are touting that “Michael Moore in Trumpland” is available for purchase on iTunes.

Audience members wait outside the Murphy Theatre during the first night of filming Oct. 6 in Wilmington.

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/10/web1_Murphy-marquee_f.jpgAudience members wait outside the Murphy Theatre during the first night of filming Oct. 6 in Wilmington. News Journal file photo